A brilliant standalone soundbar that sounds wonderful but is sorely lacking in physical connectivity

Atmos improves sound quality; Phenomenal audio; Neat and compact;

Atmos requires eARC; Not much height effect; No DTS:X support;

A brilliant standalone soundbar that sounds wonderful but is sorely lacking in physical connectivity

Atmos improves sound quality; Phenomenal audio; Neat and compact;

Atmos requires eARC; Not much height effect; No DTS:X support;

Atmos works better than you’d expect; Compact, stylish design; Alexa and Google Assistant well implemented; Easy to use;

Only one HDMI port; No HDMI passthrough;

Ease of setup and integrates so well with my apps

I was blown away by the sound quality that comes from the Sonos Beam gen 2. The sound fills my lounge room which is remarkable given its size. It is definitely worth the money

Sonos’ original Beam wowed with just how much home theater audio it packed into its tiny footprint, and now the Beam (Gen 2) is adding Dolby Atmos to the mix. A little more expensive at $449, and a lot smarter inside, this new Beam sees Sonos double-down on targeting an audience that wants surround...

Dolby Atmos support adds extra sense of audio height, Wider, more immersive soundstage, Easy setup and minimal footprint in your room, Sonos' multi-room support still can't be beat

$449 price tag makes it an expensive soundbar, Falls short of the full Dolby Atmos experience, No Bluetooth or auto Trueplay tuning

With the addition of Dolby Atmos, the second-generation Beam sounds far more immersive than before..

The Sonos Beam stood out in 2018 as one of the first soundbars to feature the Amazon Alexa voice assistant. In addition to its smart speaker capabilities, the Beam offered strong audio performance relative to its small size, as well as easy multi-room integration with the rest of the company's speakers. The same holds true for the second-generation Beam, which adds Dolby Atmos support with five-channel audio processing (up from three). It doesn’t significantly improve the sound signature or offer more audio power, however, and still requires anyone looking for more substantial bass to buy the company's expensive subwoofer. It's also slightly pricier than the previous version at $449, up from $399. Even with these qualms, the Sonos Beam (2nd Gen) is a powerful and feature-filled soundbar for anyone who wants to minimize the footprint of their home theater speaker setup. Small and Smooth The second-gen Beam shares the same wide, flat, tablet-like design and 2.7-by-25.7-by-4.0-inch (...

The second-generation Sonos Beam soundbar adds Dolby Atmos support and two more audio processing channels, for an impressive sound field that retains the previous model's compact size.

Big sound field for its size; Full and crisp sound, from low-mids to highs; Dolby Atmos audio sounds precise and immersive, even without rear speakers

Not much deep bass without optional (and pricey) subwoofer; No Bluetooth support; Trueplay audio tuning only available for iOS

The Beam Gen 2 delivers with a mature and polished sound and effective virtual Atmos performance

Effective handling of Dolby Atmos, Warm, refined sound, Streaming smarts

No additional HDMI ports, Doesn’t support DTS:X

Since its debut in 2018, the $399 Sonos Beam has been one of the best small-sized soundbars you can buy, thanks to its great sound, compact and elegant design, easy integration with Sonos’ whole-home sound platform, and its ability to double as an Alexa or Google Assistant smart speaker. But over the past few years, Dolby Atmos — the 3D surround sound format that makes movies and music much more immersive — has become very popular, helped in no small part due to adoption by streaming giants like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime Video, and both Apple TV+ and Apple Music. This means that most new soundbars, including Sonos’ $799 Arc flagship soundbar, are now Atmos-compatible, and the second-gen Beam is no exception. The new Sonos Beam is more expensive at $449. So the questions are whether existing Beam owners should even think about upgrading, and what prospective Beam newcomers can expect from it. First things first: Before you read this hands-on review, check out our review of the orig...

Easy setup; Immersive, room-filling sound; Sleek design; AirPlay 2;

No HDMI inputs; Requires compatible TV for Dolby Atmos;